Malaysian Government Move To Attract Chinese Tourists A Smart Move

By Nashir Mansor KOTA KINABALU (Sabah, Malaysia), Jan 29 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government's decision to boost the tourism industry is a smart move as it will protect the country's economy due to fall in prices of oil, commodities and other exports. Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Masidi Manjun, said the tourism industry hailed the exemption for tourists from China to Malaysia. Sabah is an east Malaysian state. "As announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak when tabling the recalibrated Budget 2016 today (Thursday), the move will make it easier for Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia. "Sabah is one of their favourite destinations and the visa exemption will see a rise in the number of tourists to the state," he told Bernama. Earlier, Najib said, the visa exemption, for a period of stay not exceeding 15 days, would start from March 1 to Dec 31 this year. He said the government was also looking at offering visa exemptions to tourists from other countries. Malaysia wants to attract eight million Chinese tourists in the next five years. The Chinese have a spending power of US$5.35 billion (RM22.1 billion). Currently, 1.3 million Chinese tourists visit Malaysia every year. --BERNAMA